made a different. >> i think that the projection of this investigation would have been different having the social media access through the criminals that would have changed their audience from just the local law enforcement audience to having a global audience. on the other hand, the tools that law enforcement has accessed to today, they would have been critical in solving the case probably a little more quickly than what they were able to then. >> reporter: this is some of that new technology. >> it is virtually unlimited. >> a device capturing thousands of license plates for hours, showing up the information instantly. >> we had cops running tags, recording tags, stopping vehicles, identifying occupants. we may have been able to solved this quickly. >> reporter: the system could have told police that they had seen this here. the one on the sniper's blue

killing machine dozens of times during their shooting spree. and it could have literally lifted a needle from the hay stack. scott broom, 9news now. now, those devices have been deemployed -- deployed for about two years now. reading dozens of license plates every second from cars going 60 miles an hour. a scaffold collapses leaving two workers dangling from the safety harnesses. it happened this afternoon right outside the commerce department on pennsylvania avenue. rescuers had to use a cherry picker to get them down. investigators say that the worker's safety harness may have saved their life. neither man was hurt. fairfax police now calling on a missing high school senior, an endangered runaway. he was last seen on the school ground monday morning, but he did not go to class. and police they were back out at it this afternoon hoping to find some clues. they did find the car there earlier this week. the inside, a dunkin' donuts receipt dated less than an hour

after he was last seen at school. >> we know that he's out there and we want him to, we want to know that he will be okay that we're going to get him home. >> fairfax police called his disappearance unusual. so far it is not suspicious. police have now released the composite sketch for the man wanted for fondling at least five women in the springfield area. they believe that there could be more victims out there. if you think that you have been approached by this guy, call police right away. tonight, the pool right in front of the lincoln memorial has been drained once again after algae -- algae took it over. >> reporter: i'm surae chinn at the reflecting pool on the national mall where crews have drained the landmark, cleaning up all the algae. they began draining the water on wednesday. >> we are going to do it as quickly as possible. >> reporter: they are hosing off and scrub aring away the green musk. >> what did you see out here at the pool? >> a lot of algae.

>> reporter: it is not what the kids in bethesda were hoping to see on their class trip. >> now all i see is tons of green stuff in the water. >> it is a maintenance problem. we're going to get it right when the water goes back in. we will get it right so it looks beautiful. >> reporter: they had just reopened at the end of august after a two-year hiatus. to solve the green problem, the national park service uses a gas to kill the algae and now doubled the dose. but the fix does not come in time for the field trip. >> maybe next time. on the national mall, surae chinn, 9news now. in the meantime, an accused rapist is behind bars tonight, accused of sexually assaulting a is this-year-old girl. the charles county detective said that he met that victim through an acquaintance and left alone many times. it is during one of those times that he pulled out the

gun. he drove behind the shopping center, sexually assaulting her. he did that on one other occasion as well. >> now, he is facing a host of charges tonight, including the first and second-degree rape and assault. mitt romney back out on the campaign trail today. a big boost tonight. take a live look at mitt romney and paul ryan's rally in virginia. and right near charlottesville. all right, he is out this repeating some of the very same lines that he used to hammer president obama. now for his part, he needed to press his republican challenger. we've got that from the white house. >> reporter: the crowd at the conservative conference in colorado welcomed mitt romney with thunderous applause on thursday. the unscheduled stop was a victory lap of sorts, following a strong performance at the first presidential debate. >> trickle down government that

the president proposes, it is one where he will raise taxes on small business, which will kill jobs. i want to keep the taxes down on small business so we can create jobs. >> reporter: an instant cbs news poll on the uncommitted voters showed romney won the first debate by a margin of 2- 1. speaking on thursday he continues to draw contrast with the president. >> we don't measure compassion by how many people we can put on food stamps. but we measure it by how many people you can get a good job to get off of food stamps. >> reporter: president obama came out swinging thursday, something critics say he should have done at the debates. >> the presidented told a crowd of supporters in denver a different challenger showed up wednesday night. >> the real mitt romney has been running around the country for the last year. promising $5 trillion in tax cuts that will pay for the wealthy. he said he didn't know anything about that. >> reporter: and the president slammed romney for saying he

would cut funding to pbs. >> we didn't know that big bird was driving the federal deficit. >> reporter: president obama and mitt romney will meet again in less than two weeks for a town hall-style debate. for cbs news, the white house. and tomorrow morning, president obama will be in fairfax at the rally center for the arts concert hall. all right, we are following breaking news for you right now. people are all trapped inside and ken ken is live with the latest on that. ken? >> reporter: yes, we are talking about a three-story building. you can see what it looks like right now. firefighters are still hitting some hot spots right now. the fire has been knocked down. still firefighters here on the scene. the folks are still outside. and i want to bring in now the chief as well as the d.c. fire

chief here. talk to us about what happened here. >> our units arrived on the scene from the second and third floor. we had a man jumping from the is educational background -- from the second floor. >> okay, you had one that jumped? >> yes, sir. >> how is that person doing? >> i cannot reveal their condition, but they have been transported. >> we also heard that one firefighter was injured, is that correct? >> yes, that's affirmative, but he should be fine. >> do we know what may have started it had? >> no, we don't know what started it. the fire will be under investigation. all of our members who do spawn, they did an extremely good job and i want to congratulation them for the work that they have done. >> reporter: talk a little bit about the fire response. we understand that this went to a second alarm, which means an extra set of fire engines were called out. is that correct? >> yes. that is the precautionary on my part. i was concerned about the fire extending down to the units. as it turned out, it was not

necessary. just a precaution. >> chief, is it normal or protocol for you to come out to these fires? i'm just wondering what you're doing here today at this fire. >> i'm a d.c. resident first of all. any time i hear a second alarm, if not, i will try to respond. >> all right, sounds good. there you have it. still a very active scene out here. we'll let you know what happens. >> ken ken, thank you. a child born with a serious lung condition is getting a bit of a breath of fresh air tonight. meet the little girl from virginia who was born prematurely. but imagine this. she is so tiny that she needs to carry around an l-pound tank. well that is where monte comes in. he is a service dog. he will carry that tank for noel giving her a chance to live more of an active life. >> all she wanted to do is run around with her friends on the playground, be independent.

just antic dependent 4-year-old like the rest of the had-year- olds in the world. this will be a great opportunity for her. >> good for her. >> reporter: monte is able to assist little noel and thanks from generous donations from the community. a live look outside. right now it felt a little more like summer than fall today. topper shutt will be until the weather terrace. how is the rest of our evening? >> reporter: really fantastic. let me start with temperatures, after a high of 81, we are still 76 downtown. 79 still in manassas, but we are 70 in leesburg and 70 also in frederick. satellite picture radar combined with some showers earlier this morning and then boom. we have cleared out very nicely. we're going to remain clear tonight. setting up the stage for a great friday. clear, breezy, much cooler tonight. still above average actually. low 54 to about 52 downtown. winds are northwest at 10 to 15. the we'll come back and talk

about what it will feel like and then it's going to feel like november here. we'll tell you which day will feel like november when we come back. why doctors expect a deadly meningitis outbreak and forced to keep on going. how a disabled grand mom was able to turn the tables on 13 bad guys.

it is a wizard of oz reunion more than 7 oyers in the making. they will follow the yellow brick road to an exhibit in london. there they will be on display along with her dress. together again for the first time since the movie was filmed. the ceremony is planned for tuesday. well, 13 intruders verses one disabled grand mom. unbelievably they are trying to rob the grandmother of medical marijuana, growing in her

backyard, out in dixon, california. and they emptied a can of bear spray on thee of the young men, including a thug who was pointing a shotgun at her. >> i didn't realize it until it was all over with and how dangerous it was. >> it turned out okay. all 13 intruders took out running. a live look outside right now. topper comes along with just a moment for you in your full forecast. a deadly meningitis outbreak claims a victim in maryland will tell you where that had be coming from. it's coming up next.

an outbreak of a rare form of meningitis. expected to grow. 26 people in five states have already gotten sick including five who died. one of those deceased is right here in maryland. the outbreak was discovered in tennessee where 18 cases have been reported. there are also a handful of cases in virginia, maryland, florida, and north carolina. all of those victims got sick after getting steroid injections. >> some of us have seen anything like this where in medication injected into the cerebral spinal fluid has caused infection. so we're in new territory here. >> we'll note that meningitis is an inflammation of the lining of the brain and the spinal cord. and the symptoms include

headache, nausea, dizziness, fever. the incubation period is two to 20 days. some people that are infected may not know it yet. a specialty pharmacy in massachusetts makes the steroid medication and issued a recall for it last week. the nhl season now canceled until october 24. games have been sacrificed due to a lockout. the league and the player's union unable to divide up $be billion in hockey revenue. the washington nationals have a few days off before they start the post season. tomorrow, the braves will take on the cardinals in atlanta and the wild card game and then on sunday, the nats will take on the winner of that game, but even though that the nats have the home field advantage, they will play their first two games on the road before coming home for games three, four, and five if necessary. and now the orioles will begin their playoff run tomorrow in texas in the one game wild card playoff.

the o's are the underdogs here as the rangers are the defending al champs. and that is actually probably good that the nats are away this sunday because the way that topper is talking about it, that game would not go off. >> it is, but it is kind of odd that you go on the road. >> yeah, it is weird. >> it is kind of strange. all right, just a big change. i think that november will describe sunday, i really do. in the meantime a couple of very nice days before you get to sunday. we'll start with the live look outside. the weather cam. 81 is the high. very nice. and the temperatures right now, still 76. dew points will keep falling. so the air, it is getting drier. we are looking at really a nice air mass. the temperatures are going to fall to comfortable levels tonight. some areas held in the 70s last night. winds are north-northwest at about 5. pressure rising a little bit at 30.11 inches of mercury. we're going to zoom up to the northern sections of minnesota and eastern sections of north dakota. and they had three to five inches of snow there. the massive storm is cranking

the winds too. just pow to 50 miles per hour. there is a cold front attached to that and the cold front right now west of chicago and west of st. louis. but this is going to eventually turn us very, very chilly for you. almost cold really in terms of what we have been through as we need to get into sunday. also they had make a chill hi day, but a bright and brisk day in kansas city for the ravens. we will zoom in a little bit more with some showers and clouds earlier this morning. they have gone and we are looking at clear skies and a very nice evening. temperatures, well, we are still in the 70s in many spots. 56 in gaithersburg and 59 in fairfax. 7 be in articling -- 7 be in -- 73 in arlington and 71 in bowie. less humid on friday, perfect. a late shower is possible for the turps game as we may not be able to get through the second half without a couple of showers. still very warm for you on saturday. chilly and wet for the redskins. i will keep knocking down the temperatures. not a pretty sight. tonight clear, breezy, cooler. 54 to about 5 it does the winds

will -- 52 and the winds will continue west. by the morning, mostly sunny and mild, no jackets required. 50s and 60s, winds are northwest at 10. by the afternoon, mostly sunny, less humid, just gorgeous. high temperatures are 80 to 85. the winds had turn a little bit at 10. the next three days, we will keep it code green tomorrow. a beautiful day. code green on saturday even though we had some showers coming in late 78. we'll make sunday code yellow. you may need to change your plans. high temperatures, 59. and that my friend might be optimistic for you. the next seven days look like this. on columbus day, we're in great shape. everything moves out pretty quickly. it will be chilly. temperatures in the mid-60s. gorgeous on tuesday. that's 70. low 70s on wednesday and the bulk should be pretty nice. most of the showers will occur on wednesday night and nice again on thursday. so if you know anybody grilling or tailgating on sunday, ponchos, you know, umbrellas, the whole bit. >> maybe staying home. >> perhaps. we'll be right back in just

a minute.

tonight, the first presidential debate. now last night, i agreed with them saying that they were beaten by mitt romney. but they said that i let her down when i said that it began sounding a little bit worn out and perhaps tired. but really? well, it might have sounded like the same old stuff to you and a lot of other uninformed folks, but he was speaking the truth, which does not change because you're on a national stage. president obama in his no drama obama style was dealing with facts. while governor romney was just lying through his teeth. you know it is great, but not this time. when the president got flustered, fairly often, he resorted to the campaign

talking points. we have all seen and heard those a bunch. frankly they also sounded hike it. but john from san tillly is seeing things -- chantilly is seeing my way of things. and that seemed to take down president obama. but four and a half more weeks of this, i'm wearing out the mute button on the remote control. finally this unsatisfied customer, peter in rockville who says why doesn't wusa and usa today call your no bulls zone on the dnc obama talking point zone because that is what it will be. i'm sure that the state and the paper has decided the winner obama before the first word is spoken. really? because did you stay up and watch our coverage? my final words were these like everyone else on tv. we called this one a big win for mitt romney. and finally this from john lorton who believes that the

debate was a draw. how congress is going to move their policies forward. it is a roadblock in congress is not chopped down, we'll have four more years of gridlock no matter who won. but we're a winner here in the mail bag when we get your e- mails. keep them coming. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. well that is our report. i had be right back here at 11:00 along with anita brikman and topper shutt. don't forget to log on any time to wusa9.com. bye.

"entertainment tonight," the worldwide leader in entertainment news. mitt shines in primetime. but was it a game changer? >> the president did seem a little rusty. >> "e.t." with the stars today, reacting to the romney smackdown. >> how damaging was the debate for the president? can he make a comeback? >> remember the debate. abcs -- always be attacking. >> did nicki minaj threatened ma rye dwra carey's life? the fallout from their "american idol" feud today. then, nicole scherzinger's dangerous eating disorder. binging. purging and opening up about her hidden shame.